Ramesh urges unemployed J&K youth to avail govt schemes

Srinagar: Educated unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir would have to come forward to take advantage of the various government schemes designed to open up job avenues for them, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said.

"The educated unemployed youth should give up inhibitions with regard to place of work and take full advantage of the initiatives being taken by the Centre exclusively for them," Ramesh said yesterday.

The Union Minister was in J&K to launch the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) at Khansahib in central Kashmir`s Budgam district.

The mission aims at making households self-sufficient through the organisation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) for women. The Centre has earmarked Rs 800 crore for the scheme to cover 90,000 women in nine lakh families across the state.

Ramesh, while interacting with youths undergoing various skill development training courses, said there was a need to engage SHGs in all kinds of employment generating avenues including agriculture sector, which he described as the backbone of economy for the state.

Emphasising on government programmes `Umeed` and `Himayat`, Ramesh stressed on the need to link the two to empower the women and youth of the state and said the latter had already trained 5,000 youths from across the state.

He also urged for construction of toilets within the premises of every household through `Total Sanitation Campaign`.